Department for Exiting the European Union

The complainant submitted a request to the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) for information about the UK’s contingency plans in respect of queues at the port of Dover in the event of a ‘no deal’ scenario at the end of the Brexit negotiations. DExEU confirmed that it held information falling within the scope of the request but sought to withhold it on the basis of the following sections of FOIA: 27(1)(a) to (d) (international relations); 29(1)(a) and (b) (the economy); 31(1)(a to e, g) (law enforcement); and 35(1)(a) (formulation or development of government policy). The Commissioner has concluded that all of the withheld information falls within the scope of the exemption contained at section 35(1)(a) of FOIA and that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest favours maintaining the exemption.